CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team lost to Bloomfield College, 94-76 in the final game of the 2009-2010 regular season Saturday afternoon in the George R. Newman Center. The result gives the Cougars a 4-23 record for the season, including a 3-15 mark in the CACC, while the Deacons improve to 20-6, 14-3 CACC with one game to play.
The Deacons connected from long range early to build an insurmountable lead in the first half, burying eight three-pointers on 15 attempts. Bloomfield led by as many as 28 points in the first period before the Cougars closed out the half with baskets by freshmen David Jones (Millville, NJ/Living Faith Christian) and Robert McPherson (Bowie, NJ/Bullis) that made the halftime score 56-34 in favor of the visitors. Ryan Rodrigues hit five three-pointers and Elias Brantley had three to lead Bloomfield, which shot 47.4 percent from the floor in the first half compared to 37.1 percent for Caldwell.
Caldwell wasn't able to make much headway until late in the second half, when the Cougars came as close as 15 points. Senior guard John Reed (Wall, NJ/Wall) drained four three-pointers and McPherson tallied nine points in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the first-half deficit. Caldwell made 53.1 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half, but Bloomfield ended up making 11-of-22 from three-point range for the game while out-rebounding the Cougars 44-35.
McPherson finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field to lead Caldwell. Reed closed out his career in the Scarlet, White and Gold with 12 points, while sophomore center Peter Diffley (Bellerose, NY/Episcopal) had 12 points as well. Senior forward Matt Cohen (Forked River, NJ/Manasquan) also played his final game for Caldwell, registering two points and one block. Brantley led all scorers with 21 points, with Rodrigues and Gage Daye adding 19 points apiece for Bloomfield, which clinched a tie for first place in the CACC North with the win.
Caldwell will host the CACC Tournament semifinals and finals Mar. 5-6 in the George R. Newman Center.
